Women and War in Japan, 1937–45

AMONG THE MANY FORCES that jolt modern society, warfare is perhaps the most prevalent, possibly the most calamitous, and probably the most consequential. At first glance war seemingly regiments, confines, and inhibits peoples from pursuing their everyday activities; paradoxically it also propels enormous changes in the relationships among the groups and classes that constitute a society. Ever since Versailles, writers have been especially careful to accord war its due place in the history of society, characterizing it variously as a historical abnormality, a permanent social institution, a manmade disaster, or a moral outrage.' Since the Second World War has been the most general and the most destructive conflict to date, its social effects have been carefully examined. Gordon Wright and Richard Polenberg have written recent books that summarize conditions on the home front in Europe and the United States during World War II. Both works thoughtfully discuss war as an agent of historical change for the populations involved in the fighting. And for an even broader view of the matter, there are the abundant social consequences of World War II in the Pacific theater to consider as well.2 In this